UK: Lives torn apart by false rape allegations

Article here. Excerpt:

'Last year 22-year-old criminology student Liam Allan had his life “torn away” after being charged with 12 counts of rape and sexual assault.

His trial at Croydon Crown Court collapsed when the Metropolitan Police were ordered to hand over a computer disk containing 40,000 messages which revealed the alleged victim pestered him for casual sex.

The student said everything in his life had been “flipped upside down” by the process, which included being on bail for two years and being warned he faced the prospect of a 12-year jail term and being put on the sex offender’s register for life.

Prosecution barrister Jerry Hayes accused police of “sheer incompetence” over the case.

Before the trial the defence team had repeatedly asked for the phone messages to be handed over but was told there was “nothing to disclose”.'